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Barcelona: The pro-union Socialist Party claimed a narrow win in regional elections in Catalonia late Sunday, local time, but the bloc of parties supporting secession by Spain’s northeastern corner widened their control of the regional parliament.
Election monitors swapped face masks for full personal protective equipment, including suits, masks, visors, goggles and black trash bags tied around their feet during the final hour of voting, “the zombie hour”, which was reserved for people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.
Election workers wearing protective equipment clean their fogged goggles while waiting for voters during the final hour of voting at a polling station during regional Catalan elections in Barcelona, Spain. Credit:Getty
Other pandemic precautions during the day included temperatures taken on arrival, separate entrances and exits, hand gel and floor markings to ensure social distancing.
With 99 per cent of the votes counted, the three main parties pledging to carve out an independent Catalan state increased their number of seats in the regional parliament to 74. In 2017, those same parties won 70 seats of the 135-seat chamber, just two above the majority.